The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1887-10-07
WONDERFUL LONGEVITY.
fhe LIFE Preserving Infiuunce of Wise Rsei
men and Abstemious Habits.


'cpends entirely ON inherited c0nstitu-
ion. The man whose father and
mother. grandparents and great grand
parents attained a high average age Is
supposed to have much better chance
Of long life than one whose forefathers
have been short-iiyed. Probably there
Is much truth In this idea; but il ID not
improbable. aud the point seems worth
careful study. that longevity Is Affected
indirectly rather than directly by in-
heritanee. II may well be that the
descendant oflong-lived folk Is apt to be
long lived, not solely or chiefly because
he inherits constitutional peculiaritios
tending TO length OF life. but because
he ipherits qualities leading TO temper
anee and abstinence by which life Is
prolonged. or even simply because
temperance and abstinence have been
encouraged during his youth by ex-
ample and by precept
Considering the question Of longevity
from this point Of view. the case of
Louis Cornaro. which has always been
hought most instructive. becomes full
also Of Encouragement.
la the first place. 1t must be reniem
sered that Cornaro (who was born al
Venice about the year 1467) was u man
II weak constitution. Moreover, from
the age Of eighteen TO that of thiriy-iivs
he pursued courses that would have
seriously taxed the strongest constitn-
tion. Life at thirty-fise was a burden
10 him because Of the disorders brought
on by riotous living and indulgence H.
every Kind Of excess. Tho next five
years wern passed in almost nnremitted
suffering He was told by his plly-
icians, when forty years old. that moth.
2 could prolopg his life for more than
70 or thrre years. but such life as re
nained to him might be less painful
han the years he had recently lived II
ic would adopt more temperate habits.
Il ever there was case where Inherited
Constitution aud IN intemperate III,
threatened an early death. this wa
one. But MS events befell. 1t turned
out that, II ever there was case wher,
ife-preservlng influence Of wise regi
men aud abstcmious habits was demon
strated. Cornaro's mnst be cited rs es-
perially significant
At the age of forty Cornaro began
gradually 10 reduce the quantity Of
food, both liquid and solid. which he
sook each dav. till at length he onl,
sook what nature absolutely required.
tie tells us that at first he found thi-
severe regimen very disagreeble. and
confesses that che relapseh from time
tH n -
But by resuning his efforts after each
failure he succeeded. IN less than
wear. in adopting permanently a spare
and moderate system. BY this time he
was already restored TO perfect health.
But thus far he had only followed the
counseis of the physicians sofaewhal
more steadily than they expected. or
than Is usual in such cases, and there
fore with unexpected good results II
was after he had recovered his health
that he went ON To those experiments
by which he seemed 10 show how life
may be extended far beyond the Psal-
nlist's allowance.
From temperance he proceeded b
abstemlossness. Undeterred by the
ioabts of his physicians as 10 the Wis
iom of such course. he diminished
his daily allowances Of food. until at last
the yelk Of an egg sniliced him foi a
mcali Throughout the time when he
was thus reducing his allowance of food
his health and spirits kept improving.
Nay. he tells us that even his enjoy-
nent in eating had increased, for he
says he could now get more pleasure
from small meal Of dry bread than he
had ever obtained in the days Of his ex-
cesscs from the most exquisite dainties
# the table. As regards regimen.
| Cornaro simply s'ayeided extremes OF
heat and cold, oyer-fa.igue. late hours.
excesses, and all violent passions of the
mind;. he took moderate exercise in
the open air; and his chief pleasures
were those obtained from literary aud
artistic study. from the contemplation
/ Of one scenery. noble building. beauti-
ful combinations of color and sweet
| music.
When Cornaro was within two years
of four score his diet Vas regulated in
quality aud quantity, as follows: II
four meals he took each day twelve
ounces in all of solid food. consisting
of bread (stale. of course, for he wa.
not weak-minded). light meat. yelk q
egg. and soup. -Richrd A. Proctor. 4,
Cosmopolitan.